


Not Your Average Campfire Song

by PuzzledCretin



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Child Neglect, Counselor!Max, David is thirty, I suck at tags, M/M, Max is sixteen, campfire songs, we'll see how this goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-09-20 13:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17023536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuzzledCretin/pseuds/PuzzledCretin
Summary: At the age of 16, Max goes back to Camp Campbell as a new counselor. Max had felt very little about the camp since he left but now that he was back, the teen is suddenly feeling everything he missed. Some of these feelings are new to him and why the hell is David so attractive now? With new campers and a new mess of emotions..Max isn't ready for what this summer has in store.





	1. The First Day

Standing under the front archway of the camp, Max stared at the scene before him, backpack firm on his back. The totem pole was burning, kids were running around and screaming, Gwen was yelling at kids to just back up and wait for her partner to get back. It was overall chaos and Max knew he’d fit in just fine.

Max has not been back since he was thirteen and three years later, he was back again but not as a camper. No, Max had a summer job as a counselor. His parents made him stop going, he had to focus more on academics and they didn’t think it was appropriate for Max to keep going to a kid summer camp, especially since it was for kids and not teenagers.

Max saw that the camp had put out an ad online for a summer position and Max couldn’t stop himself from applying. Life had been so hectic and crazy, so he decided he’d push that all aside for a whole new chaos.

When he called, it was Gwen who answered. It was obvious she didn’t recognize his voice because she didn’t make the connection that it was Max calling until the teen mentioned that his experience with camp was that he was a former camper. He almost immediately got the position and she instructed him to come as soon as possible. 

Back to the burning totem pole, Max watched as David ran over with a hose and sprayed the damn thing down till the fire was extinguished. Max took the opportunity to walk over, looking up at the charred remains. 

Gwen saw Max first, surprised by his appearance but then she turned to David, “David, he’s our new counselor, can you handle the paperwork while I deal with these little shits?” Gwen asked.

David turned off the hose and he was confused before he saw the teen standing there. He didn’t know they had filled the position yet, and he definitely did not recognize the young adult. 

“Uh, ok! Come with me!” David exclaimed as he started to walk to the counselor cabin. He wanted to conduct his own little interview, maybe teach the kid a few things before they got into the actual job.

Max stood there for a second, staring at the totem pole before tearing his eyes away to look at the red head as he walked away. Max followed, looking around to see if anything had changed but.. It hadn’t. Max didn’t know what he had expected, it was only three years since he had seen it last. 

Max pushed open the door to the counselor's cabin, smelling the mildew. It was alway old in here, no matter how much David had claimed to clean it. It was a natural scent. Max walked to the desk, following David. 

“So, what’s your name?” David finally asked, searching through the filing cabinet for the work papers. 

“Max Jones,” The teen answered, putting his hands in his jean pockets. He was wearing a gray shirt with his favorite band on it and a pair of blue jeans.

David froze for a second, turning to look at Max before his mouth shot open as he finally seemed to realize who Max was. Unfortunately, it only took a split second for the older man to wrap his arms around the teen, hugging him tight. 

“It’s been so long! Max, how’s school? How’ve you been?” David asked and he finally took in Max’s appearance.

“School is.. Good. It’s good, I’ve been good,” Max replied, wanting to halt this conversation for another time. “So that paper work..?” He asked and then David nodded, setting it on the desk.

It took awhile for them to fill out the paperwork and Max was growing concerned over all the wavers he had to sign in order to prevent him from suing. Things like falling off a cliff, getting bit by a platypus, and potentially blowing up were thing Max hadn’t even considered. How was this camp even running?

By the time they had finished the paperwork, it was mid afternoon. 

“Gwen must have started the afternoon activity.. I’ll show you to our room,” David said and walked to his room in the cabin.

Max raised his eyebrow, “I’m sorry, /our/?” Max asked as he followed, looking in the small bedroom to realize instead of one twin sized bed, there were now two. One side had some posters of forests and shit but the other side was blank as can be, the bed freshly made and it looked so neat.

“Yes, ours. Since there are only two rooms and we’re both men, we are sharing a room,” David explained. Max stared before nodded, setting his backpack onto the bed. “Now, Max, since your first day isn’t technically till tomorrow, you don’t have to help around just yet but I figured you may have fun setting up the campfire with me after dinner?” David asked.

Max looked at David, questioning everything in that moment. Did he want to get to work now? Not really but.. Something in the genuine expression on David’s face made Max want to actually help. His lips settled into a thin line and he let out a huff of air. 

“Fine, I guess, but only if you stop fucking looking at me like that,” Max stated, crossing his arms.

“I’ll try my best Max! But remember to watch that language of yours,” David responded, “Oh! One other thing!” David exclaimed before opening a drawer and pulling out those god damn green counselor t-shirts. “Every counselor needs their uniform!” 

Max frowned, snatching the shirt and he stared at it. He hated these shirts when he was younger, just the way they screamed authority was enough to make his blood boil… But now he was the one wearing it, and some part of him was prideful that finally he was going to be some sort of authority figure here. Max had gotten lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize David was watching him so closely.

“Well?” David asked.

“Well what?” Max asked in response before he realized David wanted him to put it on right now. “Get the fuck out, camp man! I’ll be out in a second,” Max ordered, shoving the man out the door before slamming it.

Max wasn’t insecure about his body, not in the slightest, but that didn’t mean he was going to take his shirt off in front of David who was now technically his boss. Max changed shirts, looking at the forest green t-shirt, taking in the fact it smelled a lot like pine. Max sighed, walking out the door to see David putting the freshly signed paperwork into the filing cabinet. 

“So? What do you think?” Max asked, placing his hands on his hips as David looked up from the cabinet, a smile coming back to his lips.

“You look like a natural counselor, Max, now come on so we can introduce you to the kids!” David exclaimed and he quickly walked to the activity field. Max stood there for a second, his hands slowly falling from his hips to hang at his sides. That was it? He looked like a counselor? 

No shit he looked like a counselor.

Max didn’t even know what he expected, but being told that? It was irritating enough. Max forced his legs to move as he walked over to the activity field, stopping next to David and Gwen, who were standing in front of the campers.

There were eleven, and they looked just as diverse as Max remembered his original group was. Max crossed his arms and then he looked up at David as the man spoke up.

“Good afternoon campers! I am excited today to introduce you to our new camp counselor! This is Max and he used to be a camper here too!” David explained. One of the kids, a child with bright blonde hair, scoffed and crossed her arms. 

“Why should we give a shit? He’s just another adult to tell us to behave,” The girl stated, her blue eyes looking at Max with a mixture of irritation and disinterest. Max smirked, he knew going into this that the campers would probably hate him. David was in the middle of explaining that the kids had to treat Max with respect and what not.

Max crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. David’s nagging was still annoying even if it wasn’t directed at him. Max nudged the man before asking him to introduce the campers, to which David lit up again.

The blond girl was Charity, her parents signed her up for nature camp. The girl had absolutely no wish to be in nature, however, given the fact she had her phone in her hand. Overall, the girl just seemed disinterested.

There was Michael, he was a short, red head who had signed up for music camp. He had a harmonica in his hand and he looked like he genuinely wanted to be there.

Demetry was a next to him, he was holding a notebook and seemed to be taking notes about everything. David said the boy was there for journalism camp, which made Max wonder what was being written in that notebook.

Samantha was next, a quiet girl who signed up for culinary camp. Max took note that the little girl seemed extremely shy, staying at the back of the group.

Next were Teddy and Aaron, they were both there for video game camp. Teddy was a taller, lankier boy where as Aaron was shorter with freckles. Max asked them what their favorite game was, finding out that Fortnite was the answer made Max want to cut off all connections with these kids.

Nelson had long black hair, it was currently being braided by a young girl named Francis. They were siblings and both were there for gymnastics camp, which Max was not too excited for despite his experience in gymnastics.

Andris had his foot on a soccer ball and before David could even say his camp, the young boy loudly declared he was in sports camp, though he was the greatest soccer player in the world. 

Justin walked over to Max without prompting and took Max’s hand, bowing at him then kissing the teen on the hand. Max had his eyebrow raised, watching this go on before David said that Justin was part of the ever famous theatre camp. Max nodded before pulling his hand away and stepping back from the kid who was watching him a little too intently.

Last but not least, there was Merida. She was there for psychic camp. The young girl looked up at Max with deep purple eyes before she said, “You will find love this summer,” and that was it. 

With all the introductions out of the way, it was time for dinner. Everyone filed into the mess hall to get their food. Max was lost for a second before remembering he was allowed to sit at the counselor table with Gwen and David. As soon as he sat down, Gwen launched into a conversation.

“So, Max, what made you want to come back to Camp Campbell?” Gwen asked, looking over her poorly made cheese burger. David looked up from his as well, looking over at the teen as well since he was also interested in the answer.

“I don’t know, I saw the ad and decided why the fuck not? I had nothing better to do this summer and I needed a job,” Max explained. David seemed to frown at the answer but Gwen laughed.

“That’s how they get you, next thing you know you’ve been here for eight years with no end in sight,” Gwen explained before shrugging. “What are you planning on doing after highschool anyways?”

Max was surprised by her questioning, but it was Gwen. She wanted to know details because who knew how much drama would be mixed in.

“I was thinking about going into education or something.. I don’t know..” Max responded, he was getting defensive. Max’s slight aggression towards her question made Gwen back off, but it left David with almost a concerned look on his face. 

Max decided to finish his food quickly, tossing his tray on the rack before he told the two adults he was going to collect some wood from the wood pile and start a fire, just like David said he’d help with. In reality, Max just wanted some alone time because everything just felt like it was going way too fast.

In the silence of the outdoors, Max walked to the wood pile. There was a slight breeze against Max’s body and it only forced the boy to think. He was here because he needed the money and he knew the place, that was it, but then why was he so relieved to be back?

It was as if nothing could go wrong here, even if everything went wrong here. Max felt safe here, he felt safe with Gwen, he felt safe with David. Max felt a lot of things now, and a lot of them were unfamiliar. Max didn’t know how long he spent thinking, all he knew was he had been standing next to the pile for a good few minutes before snapping back to reality.

The teen picked up a good amount of firewood and strolled over to the fire pit, building a good starter fire. He remembered how to do it, he had seen David do it more times than he could count.

“Looks like camp really did stick with you,”

Speak of the devil.

Max turned to see the redhead standing behind one of the log benches. David was different too. The man was still tall and thin but he appeared to have gained muscle on his bones. His eyes seemed more mature, still bright and bubbly but he also seemed deeper. The older counselor moved to sit on the log, pulling out a match box to hand to Max.

The teen knocked himself out of his thoughts in order to take the matches. He didn’t know why he thought of David in these ways, the man was nothing special.. Max pulled out a match, lit it, and then tossed it into the fire place. 

“Some things just get ingrained in your head,” Max finally responded, moving to sit next to David on the log. He stared as the fire slowly started to burn, engulfing the wood in bright flame. 

David shrugged, “At least you learned something,” The man said, settling into a calming silence. Together, they stared at the fire, hypnotized by the burning until suddenly they heard yelling. Max turned his head and looked to see the campers walking over, finally showing who was close with who as they sat in their own little clumps. Gwen sat on the other side of the fire so supervision was on all sides and things settled into pleasant joking and conversations.  
Things were nice, peaceful even, and Max couldn’t help but smile. This is what he was missing, the feeling of family in a group of people who otherwise didn’t care about one another. It was special.

It was special.

Then David pulled out his guitar. Max glared, frowning at the infamous instrument that still haunted his childhood but the campers looked confused. Maybe David hadn’t sang for them yet, but that was all about to change now.

“Want to join me, Max?” David asked as he tuned the guitar.

“I’d rather die,” Max answered, crossing his arms but a part of him was aching to hear David’s song.

David nodded and then he smiled at the campers before starting to strum.

“There’s a place I know that’s tucked away…”


	2. The Second Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max settles in more at the camp, he starts to realize a few things. A little bit messier than chapter one, but there's a bit more progress!

Max woke up that following morning to the sound of soft breathing across the room. Slowly, his eyes opened to see David sleeping in his bed. Max looked confused as to why he was the first one up but after a quick glance to the alarm clock settled his confusion. No one should be up at 4:30.

Max groaned softly, moving to lay on his back and he looked up at the ceiling, replaying the events from that night. Max smiled, it was so surreal and happy.

The images of David strumming his guitar, singing his god awful campfire songs that not only made the campers groan out in irritation but also Gwen. Max.. He wanted to be irritated, he remembered his settled anger from when he was just a camper and he could still hear the songs from back then, how they weren’t as smooth and put together as they were now.

Max remembered watching the campers slowly leave, Gwen sneaking back to the cabin. It left Max and David alone.. Except for Michael and Demetry, who managed to fall asleep on each other while listening to the songs. It left the two men to talk.

“You.. You look great Max,” David said softly as he finally put his instrument down. Max looked over at the man and scoffed.

“What did you expect? Me to look like a hobo?” Max had asked, it was just a joke but the way David looked at him nearly made Max’s blood boil. It was a look of guilt and pity, because that was exactly what David was thinking. “Dude. What the fuck?” Max bit out.

“No, no. Max, you don’t understand.” David said, he frowned, caught in his thoughts. “I.. I didn’t want that to be the case, I refused to believe so but.. I couldn’t stop feeling concerned that it could happen..” He admitted. Max stared at him, then he shoved his shoulder. 

“Yeah.. Me too..” Max said softly, staring into the fire that was just starting to die down. David got up, looking at Max with soft eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Max didn’t want to hear it in that moment or any moment any time soon. “Hey, we should get those campers to their tents, huh?” Max asked, being quick to change topics.

David looked at him and then at the boys, “Yes, I’ll take them to their tents. Could you put out the fire and take my guitar to the cabin? Just lay it on my bed please,” David said. Then the man picked up the campers and took off in a rush, something that was just so.. Not David. It confused the teen but instead of thinking on it, he just picked up the water bucket and put out the fire before grabbing the guitar.

Max had a guitar at home, not acoustic but electric. He didn't know if it was still there.. Max tested the instrument with a strum and he cracked a smile before he walked back to the counselor cabin. On the way in, Max noticed Gwen watching one of her shit shows. Instead of starting a conversation, the teen slipped right past and went to his room. He laid the guitar down on David’s bed before laying in his own bed.

He was asleep before the older man even walked in.

Max sat up in his bed when he heard a rustling of the leaves outside. He was about to leave it alone but then he heard childlike giggled. Max huffed, it was far too early for this shit but he got up anyways. Max slipped shoes on before he exited the cabin, walking around the building to see a group of three campers with what looked like fire crackers and a box of matches.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Max asked as he walked over. Three heads turned to reveal Demetry, Michael, and Teddy. Michael’s face paled when he realized they were caught but then Teddy stood up.

“What’s it to you, camp bitch?” Teddy asked, crossing his arms. Max rolled his eyes, but deep down he knew he was already proud of this kid for being an asshole. 

“Well, it seems to me that you’re trying to prank your counselors with loud ass firecrackers,” Max said and then he grabbed a stick. The children watched with confused eyes, Demetry was scribbling quickly on his notepad as Max pushed open David’s window and propped it open, looking back at the kids before he sank into a whisper. “Light the fire cracker and throw it through the window, that’ll really scare the shit out of him.” Max said before crossing his arms.

Teddy stared at Max, confused and not sure if he should trust this. “Why aren’t you getting us in trouble?” Teddy asked.

“Because if you ask me, every summer camp needs a bit of mischief.” Max answered then tapped his wrist even though there wasn’t a watch there. “Now.. In my experience, David gets up at about five o’clock every morning, which means you are running out of time,”

Teddy took one last look at the window, then Max, then the firecrackers. A devious smirk appeared on his face and he lit the damn fuse. Teddy threw it through the window and they all waited, listening to the fuse…

BOOM! POP! The sounds of the small explosive filled the air, as well as the screams of a certain male counselor. The kids were laughing but Max knew they had to go, so he gestured the kids to run. He watched them go to their tents.

Max waited until the firecrackers stopped before he mad his way inside, feigning confusion as he saw Gwen looking extremely pissed off and David looking like he saw every single ghost in a fifty mile radius. 

“What the fuck happened here?” Max asked, crossing his arms. Gwen looked at him and glared, putting her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know, /Max/, what happened? Why are you up so fucking early, hm?” Gwen asked. The woman was suspicious, reasonably so too. This had Max shenanigans written all over it. Max frowned, he pretended to be hurt even if he knew better.

“Gwen, I’ve matured. It’s not my fault you have another group of bastard children.” Max responded, looking away stubbornly.. Then he cracked a grin. “Ok, yeah, but it wasn’t my idea!”

David sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he was relieved it was just a prank but then he put his hands on his hips. David’s eyes softened before they settled on Max. Gwen looked at David expectantly, waiting for the man to at least scold the boy, but instead he fell into a soft smile.

“I’m glad you’re getting along with the campers.. I can already guess who did it, but I’m assuming you’re not going to tell on them?” David asked. Max was shocked but he nodded, he would’ve been pissed if he were snitched on. David nodded, “No harm, no foul,” He said softly.

“Un-fucking-believable!” Gwen exclaimed, “You two handle morning activities, I’m sleeping in,” Gwen muttered as she went back to her room, slamming the door.

“You’re really not mad?” Max asked David, tilting his head. He was met only with a soft laugh before David said he was going to go get dressed, then they could start up on getting the daily activity prepared. David disappeared into the bedroom, so Max went to wait outside.

Max started to walk to the activity field when he felt a hand tug his pant leg. Looking down, Max saw Teddy standing there with his arms crossed. The kid looked.. Anxious.

“Did you snitch?”

“No, why the fuck would I do that?”

“Because you’re an adult,” 

“No, I’m not that old.” Max laughed, crossing his arms, “Look kid, I used to act like you. Ask David or Gwen and they’ll tell you how much chaos I caused here.” Teddy stared at Max for awhile. The boy stared a lot, but Max supposed that meant he was thinking. There was nothing wrong with thinking.

“You’re alright, camp bit- I mean, Max,” Teddy determined, glancing around.

“Right back at ya, camp brat,” Max replied, “Now go, before I have to force you into manual labor,” He threatened. With that, Teddy scampered off to his tent, hopefully to get some more sleep. Max turned to see David, smiling as bright as ever as he walked over.

Setting up that activity was not hard in the slightest. David wanted to start with making friendship bracelets, a way to encourage the campers to be closer. Max didn’t argue, even though he thought it was stupid. Max looked up at the sky, that’s when David piped up. 

“Looks like it’ll rain..” David said as they carried the boxes of thread to the mess hall, it would be easier to make bracelets in there.

Max didn’t argue, he liked being inside the mess hall. As they were distributing each box full of threads, Max couldn’t help but feel eyes on him. He turned his head, just barely catching David’s eyes as the older man quickly turned his gaze.

“What? Am I doing something wrong?” Max asked, moving to sit on the table and watch David, who walked over to sit next to him.

“Not at all, Max, I just.. It’s so odd to see you back here. I never thought I’d see you again,” David responded, “You’re so mature Max, you’re not a kid anymore..” David looked down at his former camper.

“Yeah? Well you’re not the same guy anymore either, things change David, and sometimes for the best.” Max responded. David looked forward, staring at the floor in front of him. Max couldn’t help but notice how distant David seemed, but instead of dwelling on it, Max was forced back into work. 

“I’ll go wake up the campers, you wait here and I’ll be back,” David broke the silence, getting up from the table. David marched out to the camp, going over to the tents to wake them up. 

That left Max alone again, sighing softly. He looked down at his hands, thinking about what he needed to do. Should he talk to David about this or should he just leave it be? Was something bothering the man? Max let out a groan, he’d leave it be.

After the campers ate breakfast, they cleared the tables and David invited Max to lead the activity. Max wanted to protest, it was only his second day, he shouldn’t be the one leading but nonetheless, he lead the activity. 

Max didn’t really have anyone to make a bracelet for, not even for example, so he got dark green, light green, and yellow threads in order to braid a bracelet. Max remembered making these at camp when he went. He even went the extra step to help the one or two kids who needed help getting started on their bracelets.

One kid kept being an actual pain in the ass and it was Justin. Once the kids had settled into making their bracelets, Max was quietly sitting next to David but then he felt a hand tug his shirt. He turned to see Justin holding up a braid that had a solid knot in the middle. Max set his work down, fixed the knot, then sent the kid back on his way. A minute later the same thing happened, so Max made Justin sit next to him so he could show him how to do it. 

Justin sat close, watching Max’s fingers closely as a blush spread across his cheeks. Max knew what the kid was doing, he wanted Max’s attention. Max wanted him to go back to his seat so after he knew Justin was good, he sent him away.

“You seem to be good with the campers,” David said, the man was working diligently on his own bracelet and he barely looked up besides to make sure the kids were behaving.

“Yeah? Guess I learned from the best,” Max responded. He glanced over to see David grinning, looking at Max with big eyes and his cheeks had a light dusting of pink. 

“Oh Max-”

“Gwen just really knows how to handle kids, David, maybe you should take a page out of her book,” Max teased, laughing as David’s light blushed turned deep with embarrassment and the man lightly nudged Max. “Geez David, after all these years you still don’t realize you’re the best counselor here?”

David shook his head, not answering. Max knew David was cocky about his camping abilities, it was overly obvious. Finishing up his bracelet, Max tied the final knot. He grabbed David’s arm, wrapping the bracelet around the man’s wrist.  
David was frozen in shock and he looked up to meet Max’s eyes. A warm smile spread over his lips and Max blushed, narrowing his eyes.

“This means nothing. I just can’t make myself a bracelet.” Max stated, looking away. David rolled his eyes.

“Of course Max, of course,” David responded.

The rest of the day went well, it was peaceful. It started raining about noon time, so the campers were given the rest of the day to themselves. Max spent the day down by the dock with an umbrella. None of the kids were outside, so he was left in peace. 

Max pulled out his phone, looking at the messages.

From: Neil,  
“Max! Where tf are you?? Nikki is freaking out!”  
“Come on dude, answer”  
“We can’t help if you don’t talk!”

From: Nikki,  
“MAX”  
“MAX”  
“MAX”  
“YOU CAN’T IGNORE ME FOREVER”  
“MAX”  
“MAX”  
… (75 UNREAD MESSAGES)

Max let out a huff, running a hand through his hair before he finally caved, calling Nikki. He knew why she was freaking out, and he felt bad for making her worry.

“Max? Oh dude! Where are you? Are you ok?” Nikki’s voice rang through the phone.

“I’m ok, I’m.. I’m at camp.” Max answered softly, looking out at the lake.

“Camp? Like.. Camp camp?” 

“Yes, like camp camp.. I got a job, I’m a co counselor..” Max looked back at the camp, seeing the red head walking over with concerned eyes and an umbrella of his own. “I might have to go, David is coming.” 

“David? I want to talk to him! Put him on speaker!” Nikki shouted, her concern gone for a moment before coming back, “Wait.. Does he know?”

“No, he doesn’t know. And I’d wish you’d stop bringing it up.” Max replied. He looked over to see David sitting down next to him, “I have to go Nikki, I’ll text you later.” He stated. Max hung up before Nikki could talk more.

“I’m glad you still talk to Nikki,” David said softly, looking at Max. Max looked up at him then shrugged before looking back out to the water.

“What don’t I know?” David then asked, he was concerned over the teen. Max always concerned him, the boy never seemed to have good things happen to him.

“It’s none of your fucking business.” Max responded, his voice was cold and uninviting. David simply nodded, looking forward before he wrapped his arm around Max’s shoulders, pulling him into a small hug. Max didn’t fight it, he just let the older man do it.

“I’m here for whenever you want to make it my business..” David said softly, giving him one final squeeze before getting up and walking back to the camp. Max thought that whole exchange was pointless, it was fucking stupid.. But he felt better knowing David wouldn’t pry, but he’d be there.

Max stayed out way past the camper’s bedtime, he stayed out long enough for the lights in the counselor cabin to go out. He stayed out long enough for his clothes to become completely soaked. He stayed out long enough for the rain to stop.

He eventually got up, walking back to the cabin. After setting his umbrella down, he went to his room. Max made sure David was fully unconscious before changing into a new set of clothes, only using the moon as his light. Max finally sat on his bed, about to lay down when he noticed something on his pillow.. It was a bracelet. Dark blue, light blue, and yellow threads. Max glanced over at David, this had his name written all over it.

Max smiled, looking at the bracelet before he placed it on his wrist, tying it tight. Then, he laid down, wrapping himself in the scratchy blanket before succumbing to sleep.

David, admittedly, wasn’t as bad as Max originally thought. In fact, maybe he was way better. 

Maybe David was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will most likely take place a week or so after this, I am not doing a day by day story lol


	3. It's Ok, Max

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Max's personal life is revealed and David wants to help pick up the pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place about two weeks after chapter two.

The sun was shining bright, it was far too fucking hot out and Max was miserable. Max was holding onto a long stick for Merida. She gave no actual reasoning, she just told him it was very important so Max had no reason to tell her no. The kids were running around and having fun, they were being kids! Part of Max couldn’t help but smile. The smile didn’t last long, the heat was making him too agitated .He didn’t let the smile last too long.

They were having a soccer day, which meant that Max had to stand there and watch as the kids kicked around a soccer ball, sometimes hitting it into a net. David said they should have a soccer game, but Andris declared no one was ready, and so soccer day was Andris teaching the others soccer, Max supervising, while David and Gwen were being assholes by hiding in the counselor cabin.

David had said they were dealing with adult paperwork, stuff that Max wasn’t really allowed to deal with but Max knew that was bullshit. Last soccer day, Max went to the cabin and saw them just talking on the couch. Max didn’t talk to either of them till the next day, and the same would surely repeat today.

But no, yeah, just standing there with a stick.

“No! Max probably sucks at soccer!” A voice cut through the air and it made Max finally start paying attention again. It was Andris, hands on his hips with confidence and a smirk. Max knew that the boy was pressing his buttons so he would play, and he wasn’t going to indulge the boy… But he was fucking good at soccer.

“Oh what is that? Is that a challenge?” Max asked, dropping the stick and walking over. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the ten year old.

“Challenge implies you’d be able to beat me,” Andris responded. Without a word, Andris kicked the ball over to Max and Max stopped it with his foot. He raised his eyebrow, but without a word the two of them started a one on one game.

The other campers cleared off the marked field. Max ran with the ball but to his surprise, Andris cut in front of him and snatched the ball, taking it far out of Max’s reach. It was an extremely “tense” match. Andris was definitely better than Max, however, Max being older and taller put him at an advantage. More kids gradually joined resulting in an even six on each team. It was fun.

Then a soccer ball sailed through the air and hit Max as hard as it could, making the teen stumble back and trip over Merida’s stupid stick, landing on his ass. Max hadn’t even noticed David had left the cabin until the red head was in front of him, trying to get Max to uncover his face.

“M-Max, you have to let me see, I think it’s bleeding,” David said, his voice sounded panicked. He gently grabbed onto Max’s wrists, pulling his hands back slowly to reveal that yes, Max’s nose was bleeding. Max looked down at his hands, seeing the crimson coloring before he looked up at David. 

The man was extremely close and maybe it made Max’s cheeks heat up. Maybe. David sighed, standing up and holding his hand out to Max. The younger male took it and stood up, glaring at the campers but there was very little heat behind it.

“It’s not broken, but we should go put some ice on it,” David said, trying to examine his nose. After a moment of Max not responding, David just grabbed Max by the wrist and lead him off to the mess hall to get some ice. Max followed, watching the campers as they left then looking forward.

When they arrived, David grabbed napkins and gently wiped up Max’s nose but it was still dripping blood. Max sat down when David told him too, he leaned his head forward and watched as the blood dripped to the floor. David went to the kitchen then came back out and gently pressed a ice pack to Max’s nose, wiping up more of the blood with a tissue.

“... Thanks.” Max mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

“I’m sorry, Max?” David asked, a grin coming to his lips because of what Max said.

“Fuck you.” Max said, his voice loud and clear for the asshole. They sat like that for a minute or two but eventually the blood stopped so David moved to sit next to Max. Max took over holding the ice to his nose, sighing before he laid his head down on David’s shoulder.

David tensed up at the contact, making Max look up at him. Max’s eyes widened when he noticed how uncomfortable David was. Max couldn’t believe it. He moved away, glaring at David instead. The man didn’t have to be so open about not wanting Max close.

“Well let’s go! We have to go watch our campers!” David said, suddenly coming back into his normal cheery self. Max groaned but got up anyways, following David out the door. He was at least grateful that now he had the ice to keep him cool. 

Max sat out the rest of the day, staying close by David’s side because the man said he was worried that Max might “have a concussion” or whatever. Max didn’t really mind, but suddenly his phone decided to announce its presence by ringing loudly while they were at the campfire. Max looked to see it was Nikki and he had to excuse himself.

“Hey, what’s up?” Max asked, both relieved to have some alone time but still irritated he had to answer a fucking phone call.

“Max, I drove by your house today..” Nikki’s voice rang through the phone.

“Yeah, and?”

“They.. They were throwing your stuff away.. Are you sure everything is ok?” When Max didn’t respond, Nikki decided to continue, “I took it, your stuff that is, I have it in my car and.. What do you want me to do with it?” She asked.

“I.. Nikki. I know you don’t have much space at your place, but could you please just keep it in your garage or something?” Max asked. His voice was soft, weak as he was trying to calm himself down. “Please.. I-I’ll pay or something, just hold it till I can get back..”

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone and then some shuffling, “I don’t think I can, Max, are you sure there isn’t anywhere else you can put it?” Nikki asked.

“No Nikki! I have nowhere fucking else!” Max suddenly exploded. He huffed, feeling the hot tears roll down his face. He didn’t even care, this was just stupid.

“Max, what are you going to do once your job is-”

“Once the summer ends and I’m left on the streets? I don’t fucking know Nikki. I don’t.. I don’t know…” Max responded, his voice slowly failing him as he sank down to the grass. “I.. I’m sorry Nikki..”

“Max…” Nikki let out another sigh, “You should tell someone, anyone. The cops? Your parents can’t just kick you out like that. You’re not even 18.”

“If I tell the cops then they’ll either get arrested or I’ll have hell to pay, I’d be so dead Nikki…” Max tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head quickly and looked up to see David, his face was fucking full of concern and Max just wanted to smack the fucking look off his face. David carefully reached over and grabbed Max’s phone, pulling it to his ear.

“Max? Max, are you there?” Nikki asked, her voice was full of concern and Max could still here it, it made him feel guilty for making her worry so much.

“Nikki, could you do me a favor and bring Max’s things to the camp tomorrow? I’ve got a place he can store it,” David said into the phone.

“Y-Yeah, I can do that,” Nikki responded before she promptly hung up, she didn’t know what was happening but Max would probably text her later, now? She had to call Neil and tell him that their friend was ok for now.

“David, what the fuck-?” Max tried to speak but David just shook his head, handing Max his phone back before he sat down next to the teen. “How much did you hear..?”

“I started listening when you asked Nikki to hold your stuff.. Max, what’s going on?” David asked, reaching over to gently wipe the tears off Max’s cheek.

“David..” Max warned, shoving his hand away. He brought his knees to his chest, resting his chin on the very top. “My.. My parents finally had enough.. They kicked me out David..” Max admitted, feeling the tears start to well up.

David’s eyes flashed something that resembled anger, but then it softened into worry. He reached over, this time he pulled Max into a hug. Max wanted to pull away. He wanted to hit the counselor for touching him, when earlier he seemed so uncomfortable. He wanted to scream and blame it all on David…. But he felt safer at that moment.

“I.. I don’t get it.. Why do they hate me, David?” Max asked, pressing his face into David’s shoulder as he latched onto him, hands fisting in the older man’s shirt. “What did I do..?”

“Nothing.. You did nothing, Max..” David responded, “They just aren’t good people.. They.. They’re /assholes/ Max.. You’re so perfect, they just can’t get their shit together,” David ran his fingers through Max’s short curls, squeezing him gently. 

“Where am I going to put my stuff..?” Max finally asked, tearing himself from David’s shoulder in order to look up at him.

“My house.. I’ll get Gwen to cover the camp tomorrow and I’ll help you take your stuff to my house.. We can’t unpack you or anything, that’d take far too long, but we can at least put your things in the house, locked away for when you want them… Is that ok?” David asked, “And well.. Maybe when the summer ends, you can just stay there too.. If you have nowhere else to go…”

Max stared up at David, he was trying to compute this information. David was inviting Max to move in with him, David wanted Max to move in with him…

“Thank you David..” Max said before throwing force into another hug, squeezing the man tight as David fell onto his back, Max on top of him. “Thank you..”

David rubbed Max’s back, hugging him back with a soft laugh, “You’re welcome, Max.. Here, I’ll finish up the night with Gwen, you get some sleep, ok? We’ll have to wake up early,” David said.

The two got off the ground, David keeping his arm around Max until they had to separate, Max going to the cabin while David went to the campfire. Max walked up to the door and opened it, turning the lights on as he walked to the shared room. Max sat on his bed, he wiped his face, letting out a shaky laugh as he looked at David’s bed.

He knew David was a great guy, he knew he had the kindest soul, but he had no idea what the extent of that kindness was. Max laid down, pulling the blanket over his body after kicking off his shoes. Max rolled over, facing the wall. Max.. started to cry again. The weight of the situation was still heavy on his chest but.. Now Max didn’t know if he was crying tears of sorrow or tears of joy. Maybe both. Max cried until he fell asleep, his breathing evening out and just in time because a few minutes later, the counselors had come back.

The next morning, Max was woken up by a girl screaming in his ear.

“MAX! MAX! GET UP LAZY BONES!” The voice yelled. Max pulled his head from the pillow and glared but then he saw the green hair and relaxed some. Nikki moved forward again and hugged Max tight, making the other teen groan but he hugged her back.

“Hey Nikki..” Max said softly, hugging her tight as he just relaxed but then he got up, putting his shoes on. They talked, and Max was glad to talk to someone his age again. Nikki was talking about her job, how she’d have to rush out of here to make it but she wanted to hang out for a bit. Max told her about the camp, what had changed or rather the lack of change. He talked about the campers and how they were all bastard children but they weren’t so bad.

Just catching up really, swapping stories and having fun until Nikki said she had to leave.

When the time came, Nikki ran over to David and Gwen, who were telling the campers that only Gwen would be in charge so they had to behave. Max smiled, watching as the girl pulled them both into a bone crushing hug, Gwen irritated but David was thrilled to hug her back. Nikki said her goodbyes to the adults. She ran back to Max and hugged him again, grabbing his face to look in his eyes. 

“You have to call me, ok? I need to know you’re ok,” Nikki said and then gently kissed Max’s forehead. Max sighed softly, running a hand through his hair before Nikki went back to her car. Max noticed David’s car next to hers, how it was already loaded. How long was Nikki there before she woke up Max?

“Are you ready to go, Max?” David asked as he walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder. Max watched Nikki’s beat up car roll down the driveway of the camp, then he nodded and walked to the car.

“How long will it take?” Max asked, looking up at David.

“The drive to my house will take about an hour,” David replied, grinning at Max as he climbed into the driver's seat. Max frowned, getting into the passenger seat. “It’s fine, Max, you can take a nap if you want to,” David said softly. So Max did.

Max slept from the time they first hit the road to when they had about twenty minutes left, slowly drifting back to life and listening to the sound of the radio and David’s voice singing along. Max opened his eyes, looking out the window. He saw houses, normal suburban houses. Max was expecting to see woods, camp stuff, maybe a log cabin! But no, that’s not what he saw. He saw a normal neighborhood.

“Are we there yet?” Max asked, pulling his cheek from the window glass. He looked over to David. David seemed surprised at first, glancing over at him but then his slight smile turned more into a grin.

“Not yet, but soon, Max,” David replied, laughing softly as he heard Max groaning from the passenger seat. Max sat up more, wiping his eyes as he watched the road ahead of them. “So… Are you and Nikki…?” David attempted to ask. Max looked at the man, narrowing his eyes.

“No. I’m not dating Nikki.” Max replied, slightly irritated because he remembered when Neil’s dad pried into Neil’s dating life, how it annoyed his friend… But Max was annoyed for a different reason.

“Oh..” David said softly, the car settling to awkward silence and Max knew that the man was going to try to ask again, so Max decided to settle the discussion.

“I’m gay, David, and I’m not dating anyone, so don’t bother asking.” Max stated, crossing his arms.

David paused, looking to Max fully but then he had to turn his head back to watch the road. Max watched him, how his face seemed to redden with Max’s words. It made Max.. Think.

“David? Are you gay?” Max asked, just curious. He always guessed, but after what happened with Bonquisha? Max questioned. Now he needed to know, and what better time to ask than when David is letting him move into his house?

“... No.” David answered, his body was stiff, hands tightening on the steering wheel. Max frowned, taking in this body language. “I’m not gay but I am bisexual.. I like both..” David mumbled.

“I know what bisexual means.” Max grumbled then crossed his arms, the older man nodded before his eyes seemed to lighten up.

“.. We’re here.” David said as he pulled into a driveway.

Max got out. Looking up at the house, he tilted his head. The house was a soft cream color,it had a porch that was large and the door was a dark brown. There was a large window right in the front and the lawn was large with some beautiful flowers lining the walkway. 

“Max, go ahead and explore a bit while I start to unload,” David said and tossed the keys to the young man. Max caught them, barely nodding as he ran up the steps to the door. He inserted the key, turned the knob and he stared in awe at the house before him. The house was clean, it was neat, there weren’t stray cigarettes tossed about. 

Max walked in, noticing the bar in the kitchen that separated the kitchen from the living room. Max looked in the kitchen, the counters were a dark green and the cabinets were a darker wood. It was fascinating. He walked down the hall, noticing there were four doors along the walls. Peeking his head in the first one, he saw a bathroom. The next one was an office, then the last two were bedrooms. 

Max’s soon to be room was bare, it had a bed, nightstand, and a dresser. There was a closet on the left side. It was much bigger than his room at home. Max was going to walk into David’s room, to snoop on the older man but then he decided against it. Instead he went back outside just in time to see David carrying in three boxes. 

“Oh shit.. I didn’t realize I had so much stuff..” Max mumbled.

“It’s no issue Max!” David said as he walked passed, marching straight to the guest room. Max nodded, walking back to the car. He picked up a trash bag full of his clothes and another one full of his pictures and shit, pictures of Max at camp.

One of the trashbags was just trash, but Max wasn’t mad because he was so grateful that Nikki didn’t want to leave anything behind. Max was sure that the rest was just trash but then he saw one thing peeking out of one of the boxes that had broken glass in it. Being careful, Max pulled out his childhood teddy bear. The fur was worn, there were more rips and tears in it than when he was a kid. Mr. Honey Nuts was just fine though, the toy was perfectly fine.

Max carried the two bags and the bear into the house, bringing them to the bedroom. He froze when he saw David, the male looked so lost in that moment. David slowly looked at Max as the young man placed his shit down.

“Did.. Did your parents find out that you were gay? Is that why they kicked you out..?” David asked. Max’s eyes widened at the assumption, then they narrowed into a hate filled glare.

“Mind your fucking business, David. So what if that’s the reason? It’s no big deal, I don’t fucking care,” Max stated, throwing his teddy bear to the bed before he crossed his arms.

“You do know that it’s ok that you’re gay, right? You’re still an amazing person Max, your sexuality doesn’t define the quality of your character,” David said, he looked so concerned for the teen, stepping forward to try and comfort him.

“You think I don’t know that? I don’t need to hear it David!” Max shouted, fists clenching as he turned to leave the room, hopefully he could get to the car and turn the music up loud but as he was walking, David grabbed his arm.

“Yes you do.” David said, his voice was more stern, determined to get this message through Max’s head. Max turned back, looking into David’s dark green eyes before he relaxed. “You need to know that it’s ok you like boys, you’re still /Max/. You are an amazing fucking person.” David stated.

Max’s eyes were soft, he didn’t really know how to respond verbally, but he knew what he wanted to do. Max glared and grabbed David by the face, hands cupping his cheeks before he pulled the ginger into a short kiss, a quick press of the lips. It was over before either of them really registered what happened.

“Thanks.. David.. We should get back to camp..” Max said softly before his hands left David’s face. He turned on his heels quickly, rushing from the room as the embarrassment of his actions finally weighed in. David followed him, silent as ever but he gently placed a hand on Max’s shoulder.

It was a very, very silent ride home.


	4. Good Results

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and David just need to talk. All it takes is a rainy day and movie night to push the two together.
> 
> I'll be honest, this is just some fluff because I want it.

The week following that day was extremely tense. Not that there was any anger, it was just obvious that there was something that was being ignored. Max was refusing to remember he kissed David that day. Max did not want to acknowledge what he did. Which meant he was avoiding David because David /did/ want to talk about it.

That’s where the strain came in. 

Meals were quiet between the counselors, activities were a lot of Max being very active and involved because David wouldn’t pull him away from the campers. Max also avoided going to sleep for as long as he could. He didn’t want to be cornered by the older man and talk about it.

Max often sat out by the dock, staring out at water. He only did it when David was busy, he may have bribed some of the kids with candy in order to cause the mischief. He watched the moon a lot. He liked the moon.

That’s where Max was now, sitting by the dock and he was texting Nikki. He told her what he did and he told her his concerns. That David would have the talk and tell him that he wasn’t interested or that what Max did was not ok. David probably wasn’t interested in some kid. 

Nikki told him to just get it over with because he couldn’t avoid David all summer or when they lived together. Max told her that he could and he would.

A crack of thunder shot him out of his thoughts. Max looked up at the sky, frowning as he saw the dark gray rain clouds rolling in. He got up from the dock as another boom went off, walking back to the main camp area.

“Max..” A small voice said and then a small hand grabbed his pant leg. Max looked down to see Samantha, the young girl was shaking and she looked up at him with terror filled eyes. 

“It’s alright, it’s just a little bit of thunder. It can’t hurt you,” Max said as he bent down and picked up the girl, setting her on his hip as he started to walk to the activity field. Teddy and Demetry were being scolded by Gwen for lighting a tent on fire. Once she was done, he walked over to Gwen.

“Hey, it’s going to rain soon. What’s the plan?” Max asked, looking at all the kids who were doing various activities.

“David is setting up a movie and blankets in the mess hall, you want to go help him while I wrangle the kids?” Gwen asked, “Thanks Max, appreciate it,” Gwen said as she went off to collect the campers. Max scowled before he looked at Samantha.

“Want to come with?” Max asked her, running his free hand through his curly hair. 

“Yes please..” Samantha replied, laying her head against his shoulder. Max watched her small hands grab onto his shirt. It were moments like these that really made Max realize the position he was in. This little girl was depending on him to hold her and protect her from the oncoming storm. 

“I’ve got you, kid..” Max said softly before he walked to the mess hall. Maybe this would be good, bringing Sam with him will protect him from the talk. He opened the door, walking in to see the tables were moved out and replaced with blankets and pillows, all placed around a tv that was on a rolling stand. David was bringing down another box from the attic, the label declaring that it was filled with sleeping bags.

“Oh.. Hey Max, what are you doing here?” David asked once he turned his head to see the teen carrying the camper. David looked as nervous as Max felt. 

“Gwen told me to come help you..” Max replied. He felt the child in his arms squirm so he gently set her down, watching as she ran over to a blanket and pillow. She sat down and wrapped herself up, looking up at the adults.

“Oh.. Well I’m distributing the sleeping bags now, one for everyone.” David said. Max nodded and he walked over. They hadn’t been that close since the day it all happened.They made eye contact before they each grabbed sleeping bags and laid them out one by one.

“... Max, I’m sorry about what happened,” David said softly, glancing over cautiously at Samantha who was busy looking at the movie selection.

“You’re sorry? Why the fu- Why are you sorry?” Max asked, narrowing his eyes as he lazily laid down a blanket.

“Because obviously you were uncomfortable..”

“I did it, David, you shouldn’t be sorry.”

“But I am,” David said, walking back to the box once it was empty. Max followed, crossing his arms and putting his back to the child. David’s voice sank into a whisper, “You’ve been avoiding me for days, Max, I shouldn’t have put any pressure on you,”

“You didn’t put any pressure on me, David.” Max stated, glaring at him. He shoved David in a vaguely playful manner just as the doors opened. Max sighed, he hadn’t noticed that it started raining.

The mess hall settled into comfortable talking as all the campers found their spots, curling up in blankets. Max raised his eyebrow when he saw that there were two extra set ups. 

“We aren’t missing any kids, are we?” Max asked, doing a headcount to see that all eleven campers were there.

“No, Gwen said she didn’t want to participate so we have to supervise..” David explained, then he grinned wide. “Max, choose a movie and I’ll go make popcorn!” He said excitedly, walking into the kitchen.

Max sighed, walking over to the movies to see what there was. He saw a few that were familiar from when he was a camper, but David obviously bought a few new bundles. He smirked as he picked up a newer Shrek disk.

“Hey, what do you guys feel about watching Shrek?” Max asked, looking at the campers who pulled their attention from their conversations to look at Max.

“What’s Shrek?” Aaron asked, tilting his head as he looked at the cover, “Isn’t that just a meme?” He asked. Max gasped, staring at him with shock.

“We are watching Shrek, you heathens.” Max stated before he put in the movie. How could these kids be so deprived? Max went over to an empty sleeping bag as the movie started to play, sitting down and pulling the blanket around his shoulders.

Max glanced around, they were a bit further from the kids, but the sleeping bags were laid together for a reason. They’d have to talk more. He groaned, laying his head back against the wall before he heard the signature; “Somebody once told me”. Max watched as David walked out, passing bowls of popcorn and juice boxes to the kids. He also told them if they wanted more juice then the cooler was next to the kitchen.

“Here, I figured we could share a bowl. It gives us a little more,” David said as he set down the bowl on Max’s lap. He crawled into his sleeping bag, passing Max his juice box before they settled into silence to watch.

It was a quiet, uncomfortable fifteen minutes till David finally started to talk. Max knew he calculated this, just enough time for the campers to have tunnel vision on the movie so they didn’t focus on the counselors.

“Max.. When you.. You know..” David started, his voice just loud enough for Max not having an innocent reason to ignore him.

“When I kissed you?” Max asked, frowning as he looked at David, stuffing his mouth with popcorn.

“Yeah.. Did you mean it?” David asked, looking at Max with concerned eyes. He looked.. Worried. Like he didn’t actually want to press the issue.

“What do you mean?” Max questioned.

“Did you want to? Like, do you like me in that way?” 

Max didn’t know how to respond to David. Does he tell the truth or lie his way out of this? Max knew he liked David in that way, and how fucking frustrating. David’s overwhelming joy and cheerful demeanor was once annoying and stupid when Max was a kid. But now? Max found it charming and heartwarming, David was the perfect guy with the perfect attitude.

“Shit.. I guess I do, David.” Max mumbled, trying to see if he could subtly hide himself in his blanket. He could feel David’s gaze burning into him, burning past the blanket and into his core. Max felt what he could only assume was shame building up.

“I see.. Look at me, Max,” David said, his voice was softer and Max could have sworn he heard a smile, he heard David /happy/. He must’ve heard wrong so he stayed staring at the movie. “Max, come on, look at me.”

Max frowned but slowly turned his head to look at David, who was smiling at Max. He was so genuine that it hurt Max. How could David smile at him like that? It felt like hours before Max felt David’s warm, calloused hand gently caress his cheek.

“I know I can get in trouble for this but.. Hopefully you won’t mind?” David joked before he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Max’s. Max was shocked, justifiably so, but he wanted this. This was all he wanted since this summer began. 

Max kissed him back.

All the weights felt like they were lifted off his chest, all other sound was drowned out. It was Max and David, no one else. David pulled away first, but he stayed close. He kept his hand on Max’s face, watching him and waiting for any type of reaction. Max’s cheeks were flushed and he stared at David before he glared.

“Fucking.. Open your blanket..” Max ordered. David opened the blanket enough for Max to scoot in, curling up against his side with a huff. Max sighed, but David was warm and he didn’t mind the close proximity.

“So.. It’s ok? You’re ok with this? I’m not pressuring you?” David asked softly, looking down at Max with some lingering concern.

“Yes, I’m not being pressured. You can’t pressure shit, David.” Max bit back before they settled into a comfortable silence. Max noticed that midway through the movie, the kids were falling asleep. It was still raining pretty hard, so Max decided to ignore it for now. Little did he know that he’d fall asleep shortly after his own assessment. 

Max woke up the following morning to the sound of soft breathing above him. He slowly opened his eyes to see a green pine tree in his face, so he looked up to see David’s sleeping face. Max sighed, laying his head back down. He wrapped his arms around David, wanting to go back to sleep but in his efforts to cuddle more, he woke up the man next to him.

“Mm.. Good morning Max..” David mumbled, looking down at Max with an equally sleepy smile. “Did you sleep well?” He asked.

“I slept on the floor with an old man.” Max answered, pulling the blanket up higher.

“I’m not old, I’m only thirty..” David said softly, raising his eyebrow before he just let his hand gently run through Max’s hair. Max tilted his head back as David messed with his hair but then he felt lips on his again. They were gone before Max could respond.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have..” David whispered, moving away some as if his touches had been rejected.

“God, you’re so annoying.” Max responded, grabbing David’s shirt so he couldn’t move away more. “If I didn’t want it, I’d make it very clear.”

David stared at Max before he let out a sigh, a smile coming to his face. Soon, David decided to get up. Max watched as the man walked got up and checked outside. It looked bright out but it was still cloudy as hell. There was a rustling in the kitchen, probably a raccoon or maybe Quartermaster getting breakfast ready. 

Max got up from the floor, sighing as he fixed his clothes, walking over to the door. He opened it before looking at the kids. They had to get the tables back out for breakfast. David left to go wake up Gwen so Max started to wake up the kids one by one.

Max woke up Samantha first, who neatly folded her stuff up and put it in the proper box. Max then woke up Francis, Nelson, and Charity. They had to be supervised and he made sure they folded their stuff up. Then it was Aaron, Teddy, Demetry, and Michael. Max smiled, they all looked so tired and done with life. Max quite literally couldn’t relate more. The kids woke up Andris, Justin, and Merida for him and then when everything was in the boxes, the kids were released.

Max told them breakfast would be in an hour or so. He opened up the attic, starting to lug up the boxes so they were in the attic. He got the pillows and blankets up, but as he started to lug up the box of sleeping bags, his foot missed the rung of the ladder and he fell. Max tensed up, expecting to hit the hardwood floor… But he didn’t. Max felt a hard, sturdy chest against his back and arms wrapped around his torso to hold him up.

Max looked up, making eye contact with the ginger male. David had a concerned smile on his face and they just stood there until Max steadied himself, moving away from the man.

“Thanks David, I’m going to try and bring this box up again,” Max said with a soft laugh before he started to climb the ladder. “Can you put out the tables?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course, Max,” David replied but he continued to watch Max, to make sure he didn’t fall down or anything. Max felt that maybe he had something else he was watching but he wouldn’t call David out on it. 

When he reached the attic, he walked over to the other two boxes. He set the box he was carrying down and then he paused. Max could hear the scrapping of tables moving. David had gotten to work immediately.  
“Hey, David, what are the plans for today?” Max asked as he climbed down the stairs. He folded the ladder up, closing the attic hatch. He then looked at David, who was putting one of the last tables into place.

“Today is a free day, campers can do whatever they please as long as they follow the rules and stay in the camp,” David said, placing his hands on his hips. Max nodded, helping him with the final table. 

“So.. It’s a free day for us too?” Max asked. David nodded in response, stepping forward towards Max. Max smiled slightly, raising his eyebrow as David got closer. Max sat down on the table and David stopped his advances as soon as they heard the door open. 

They turned their heads to see Justin, he looked so sad and had a broken prop in his hands. Max sighed, glancing at David with questioning eyes as he got off the table.

“We’ll need to talk again later,” David said, patting Max’s shoulder before he whispered, “The campers shouldn’t know…” Max winked before he walked over to Justin, grabbing the prop and the boy’s hand.

“What happened, kid?” Max asked, looking at the damage.

“Nelson threw it against a rock and broke it! My work can’t go on without it!” Justin shouted dramatically, wiping his eyes.

“Ok, let’s go beat him up,” Max joked as they started to walk. Max would take care of this and then gather the kids for breakfast. Things seemed to be.. Turning around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winter break is coming closer to an end, so while I've posted a whole lot in these past two weeks, chapters may be a bit more spaced out.


	5. Max's Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max takes the time after the camp fire to think over some things that occurred over the summer. He realizes a few things and comes to terms with the fact that the next day camp would be over.

Max tossed a new piece of firewood onto the fire, watching it get consumed by the fire before he sat down back on the moss covered log. He stared at the red flames licked up the sides of the wood and turned it black. He was tasked to put the fire out, not keep it going but.. That was an hour ago. Max didn’t want to go to bed yet.

Camp was officially over the next day, Max couldn’t believe the whole summer just flew by like nothing. Even though it only seemed like yesterday that Max was signed up to be a co-counselor for this shitty place, so much had happened that seemed to change his life. 

The most obvious being that he grew closer to David, like, extremely close. Max was still in complete disbelief that his stupid childhood crush came to be true. He scoffed to himself, tossing a pinecone into the fire. How ridiculous to think about, hm? He couldn’t come out about it, no, he couldn’t tell anyone about it.

He could when he turned eighteen and then he wanted to shout it from the treetops that he was dating the dopey counselor. He couldn’t wait, but unfortunately he had to. He had that long discussion with David.

David was right to be concerned, he’d be the one who got in trouble. So on a night like this, he sat David down in their shared room and he brought it up. Max remembered very distinctly what David said to him..

“Max.. If.. If you don’t feel comfortable with this, with being with me, you don’t have to be. I-I couldn’t handle it if I hurt you by forcing something like this on you.” David had tears in his eyes, like he had already made the mistake of going too far. Max stared at him for a second before he grabbed the older man’s hand.

“David, I promise, I want this just as much as you do,” Max had replied. David smiled after that, he broke down in tears. Max was glad the man was so happy to hear that, to soothe some of his concerns about their relationship. 

They sat like that for an hour and a half afterward, discussing their options and what they could and couldn’t do. David had made it clear they wouldn’t do anything too intimate until Max was actually legal, and Max agreed that was wise to do. They talked until Max eventually fell asleep on David’s shoulder, listening to David’s soft voice just lulled him further into sleep.

Max woke up the next morning alone, tucked into his bed. He smiled looking at the ginger in the bed across the room. He wondered how he became so lucky…

Max was still wondering how he was so lucky. David just seemed to be so kind to him, so caring. He looked at Max like Max was a pure joy. It made Max feel so special. Max let out another laugh as he watched an ember land between his shoes. It burned for a second before going out. 

Moving past David, Max had grown closer to the kids in this stupid place. He was particularly fond of Demetry. David was shocked when Max admitted who his favorite was as well. Max could guess why, Teddy was the ultimate troublemaker for the camp so obviously he was supposed to be his favorite because Max was the same but.. Demetry made him laugh.

The kid somehow seemed to be everywhere, scribbling down on his notepad about what happened. Max was always impressed. Demetry also seemed to be fond of Max, often reporting to him what had happened. 

Max laughed as he remembered the one time Aaron and Justin got in a physical altercation (David wouldn’t let him call it a fight) over the theatre stage and it ended with the entire curtain set breaking off the rod and falling. Each boy blamed the other, but it was Demetry who marched over and declared that it was Aaron who pushed Justin into the curtains. Justin grabbed the fabric and pulled it down as he fell.

Max really didn’t know what he expected from them, but the way Demetry just seemed to proud to declare the truth and the look of pure anger on Aaron and Justin’s faces made Max laugh so hard that he had to let Gwen handle the punishment. 

Max still couldn’t believe the kid had enough space in his notepad to keep writing.

Now all that being stated, there was no kid that Max absolutely hated. Every single kid had made Max groan and roll his eyes once or twice, but he didn’t hate any of them. 

Such as Justin. Justin was very eccentric and declared himself a gentleman, but beyond all that, everyone knew he had a weird crush on Max. It never went further than Justin always wanting to be paired with Max or sometimes he chose to sit next to him at the campfire, but sometimes the childish compliments became too much for Max to handle.

Justin had walked pridefully over to the seat next to Max. They were handling video game camp that day, having a tournament for Mario Kart since there was very little violence and David enjoyed the colors. Gwen enjoyed being able to kick ass with turtle shells. 

But Max was on his phone, he had a headache because he was incharge of setting up the game to the old ass television and he got shocked to shit. Justin grabbed his hand and forced Max to pay attention as he said:

“You’re beautiful hair seems to be particularly electrifying today,”

An innocent compliment based on what was supposed to be a joke, Max would’ve laughed if he wasn’t pissed off and the compliment set him off more. He yelled at Justin, calling him a smart ass and that his jokes weren’t funny. Justin ran off crying.

It didn’t take long for Max to feel guilty so he took off to find the kid. He found Justin sitting in the woods, wiping his tears. Max didn’t ask, he sat next to the kid and looked at him with sad eyes.

“I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean anything that I said. It was out of nowhere..” Max admitted softly. Justin looked up at Max with surprise, staring at him like no adult had ever said sorry to him in his life. 

“Y-You don’t mean that, I’m annoying, just like you said,” Justin said softly and turned his head away. His shoulders shook as he let out a soft sob, hands coming up to cover his face.

“You’re not annoying, you just annoyed me in that moment. You’re a good kid, don’t let assholes tear you down.” Max stated, watching Justin seem to relax with his words.

Justin turned and hugged Max. It caught the teen off guard, the way that Justin held onto him like he was afraid Max would shove him off. Max hugged him back, holding onto him tightly because he wouldn’t push the kid away. He knew what it felt like to be shoved aside.

After that, things were a bit quiet. Max didn’t push Justin to talk and Justin didn’t go out of his way to get attention. It was good.

That was what made Max truly understand why David kept this job. David was a kind soul, he truly loved to make people happy. What better way to make kids happy than to show them someone can care when they have a shitty life at home? 

Max had been one of those kids. After Parent’s Day, David knew Max had two parents who didn’t give a shit about him. David knew this and he made it very clear that he wanted to make Max happy and he wanted camp to make Max happy.

Max didn’t know why the man had wanted to do that, he didn’t understand why any adult anywhere would actually give a shit about how he felt. He was a kid, he was nothing important and yet David made him feel better.

Max did the same for Justin and then everything was put into perspective.

Now, was Max planning on being a camp counselor for the rest of his life? God no. He’d much rather have a job far away from this camp, maybe he’d become a teacher if he really wanted to make a difference on kids lives. He’d leave the camping to David.

But yeah, tomorrow they’d be able to send the kids back to their homes and Max was going to go home with David. Max was relieved to not have to go home, especially since the whole reason he came here in the first place was to escape home.

To escape the yelling.

The fighting.

All the bullshit that he had the privilege to call home.. But not anymore. He could look forward to going home with David, quiet movie nights and silent nights. Max could go home after school and not have to hide in his room in order to find some peace and finally do his homework for once.

Max was ready to go and start a brand new life. David said he wouldn’t act like Max’s dad, but Max knew the man would have to take a guiding role. Max was still a child and if he wasn’t with his parents, David would have to act as his guardian. 

Max let out a yawn, getting up from the mossy log in order to grab one more piece of wood. He looked it over, noticing it was pretty dry so it’d burn quickly. Max tossed it into the fire, watching embers fly up in a plume of smoke. The ashes fell to the grass and ultimately disappeared from view. 

Max’s eyes widened as he heard soft footsteps and he turned his head to look at the upcoming new presence.

It was just David, already in his pajamas but he had a knowing smile on his lips.

“I thought I told you to put this out, we have to get up early tomorrow to start cleaning up camp,” David said as he walked over to stand next to Max, wrapping his arm around the teen’s shoulders. Max rolled his eyes, letting out a laugh.

“Yeah? I thought you were going to bed.” Max stated as he crossed his arms, but he did lean into David’s side. He looked into the fire, not wanting to put it out yet.

“I was, but I didn’t expect to wait an hour for you to go to bed too. I actually thought something might’ve gone wrong with the fire..” David admitted. Max shook his head, looking up to meet the gaze of emerald green.

“Are you ready to go home?” David asked softly. 

“Of course I am, I’m fucking sick of these mosquitos.” Max replied.

“No.. I mean.. Are you ready to go home? To my house?”

“David, yes, I’m ready to go to your house. I’m living with you, I’m ready to go home.”

“Ok.. I just wanted to make sure..” David said softly, tearing his gaze from Max’s so he could look at the fire. Max laid his head on David’s shoulder.

“I know..” Max said softly. David tensed up slightly, then he let out a laugh as he gently squeezed the teen gently.

“Am I too obvious..?” David asked. 

“You’re not exactly subtle,” Max replied before he had to force himself to pull away. He could see David was tired, so he was going to put the fire out. David let out a soft laugh, crossing his arms as he watched Max, pulling a small flashlight from his pajama pocket so they could see. 

Max grabbed the bucket of water and dumped it on the fire, watching it go out and making sure it was all out before he walked over to David, grabbing the man’s hand with a soft smile.

“Come on, Max, we’re going to have a long day tomorrow and we need all the energy we can get,” David said as he gently squeezed Max’s hand. The two started to walk back to the cabin, David held the flashlight in front of them to light their path to the cabin. 

“Hey David..?” Max asked, looking up at David. David looked back, his eyebrow arched in question to what the young man could want from him. “.. Thank you, for everything.” Max said softly. David’s lips turned up into a bigger smile and he just nodded, knowing Max didn’t truly want a reply.

Tomorrow would be a big day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might continue this eventually but I kind of like how I placed it at an ambiguous ending. 
> 
> Thank you for all the support on this story and keep an eye out because I don't know if I will ever pick it up again.


End file.
